Biography
You see the card in the illusionist’s hand, but seconds later you open your own hand to find that you’re holding…that same card. How in the world?You watch as the illusionist cuffs and padlocks his wife into an impenetrable wooden box, but moments later she appears from behind a curtain and unlocks the box to reveal…the illusionist. Unbelievable!
You respond to the illusionist’s request for any number between 10 and 100 by saying “54.” Without writing—or blinking, for that matter—he flips a notepad around to reveal the number…54. You shake your head. It just doesn’t make sense.
Or does it?
Who Is This Guy?
“What if everything you’ve based your life on to this point has been a clever illusion?” the illusionist asks. “How deep is the deception all around us, and how much of it do we accept without even questioning?”
His name is BJ Harris, and since receiving a magic set from his grandmother at the age of 9, he has been fascinated with magic, illusion and how easily the senses are deceived. At age 11 he gave his first public performances. Today, at the age of 24, he is an award-winning illusionist and an expert in the art of deception. He has performed before 1 million people in nine nations on five continents. BJ’s performances not only amaze his audiences, but also awaken them to the lure of deception, the power of the senses, and the secret of living life based on deeper realities.
More than an entertainer, more than a speaker, BJ is an artist. He is passionate about helping people—especially today’s emerging generation—to transcend the trickery of the postmodern world and discover an authentic connection with their Creator.
BJ has devoted more than a decade to becoming a specialist in the art of illusion. He is widely known for his high level of professionalism and showmanship, and is regularly recognized by his peers on an international level. In an unprecedented show of respect for such a young performer, he has been the subject of two cover articles in The Christian Conjurer, the official publication of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians (FCM).
Agent Of Transformation
Ultimately, BJ’s mission—for his life and for his art—is to serve as an agent of transformation in the hearts and lives of people throughout the world.
“I want to be a catalyst,” he says. “By spending an hour or a day with an audience, I can’t be there to disciple them. But I can push buttons that need pushing. For those who already know the truth, I prod them to go deeper in faith. For those who come in with questions, I challenge them to ask ultimate questions about life’s meaning and purpose. And for those who just come in to see a show, I nudge them out of their comfort zone. I want people to go a little further, no matter where they on their journey. I like to challenge the audience not to settle for wherever they are.”
During his teen years, BJ traveled the nation and the world, honing his craft and astounding audiences. He then embarked on two years of communications and Biblical studies, continuing to sharpen his skills as an illusionist while wrestling with matters of faith and spirituality in the postmodern world.
Because of his longtime fascination with the art of deception, he became increasingly aware of just how easily all of us—himself included—tend to base our lives on what we experience through the physical senses.
By performing illusions, BJ demonstrates how easy it is to be fooled. He loves to shed light into the shadows of deception, awakening audiences to its lure and power. But he doesn’t just leave us spellbound; his mind-blowing illusions provide a springboard to an exploration of the truth, and how that truth can set us free.
He dares to ask, “What if we were capable of searching for, finding, and embracing a truth that could radically alter the trajectory of our lives?”
A Call to The Senseless Life
“We tend to live our lives based upon our senses and emotions,” BJ observes. “That’s why Paul told the church in Corinth, ‘Hey, don’t walk by what you see. In fact, don’t even focus on it’ (2 Cor. 4:18). Paul didn’t just talk about how we’re not to live; he continued his challenge by saying, ‘Walk by faith.’ But what in the world does that mean? How do we ‘walk by faith, not by sight?’
“First of all, we must learn to engage, use discernment, and realize that we cannot trust our senses. We live in a fallen world, and apart from Christ we are hopelessly lost, so our senses will repeatedly deceive us.
“What does walking by faith look like? Well, quite frankly, it’s Senseless. You see, to truly follow Jesus the way he invited means to live a life that doesn’t make sense. Jesus’ call is to live so that the world around you is actually stopping, scratching their heads, asking, ‘What’s so different about you? Your life just doesn’t make sense.’
“After all, why would we lay down our lives for a friend? Why would we give up our time to serve someone we don’t even know? Giving away our money is also a crazy idea, and loving our enemies is even crazier. Ours is a calling that is truly senseless.”
After cleverly deceiving and then revealing the process of how it happened, BJ goes on to communicate his personal testimony of being deceived by the world, and how he fell for society’s lies. From there, he powerfully communicates the reality of the Gospel, and invites the audience to embrace a life of faith—to abandon comfort and security, no longer settling for the mediocrity of a ho-hum existence.
The challenge BJ lays out is a call to live in a radical way that doesn’t make sense to those around us. Ultimately, he believes passionately that “the senseless life is the only one that is truly worth living.”
So if you see BJ’s wife magically appear out of a padlocked box, or if you’re holding a different card than the one he handed you, or if he guesses the number in your head without a moment’s hesitation…rest assured: It’s all just clever illusion.
Or is it?
